JP Patches Day 2009 - Recap!

Did you visit us on JP Patches Day? Did you wait in line for your picture?



Maybe your children left tatooed. Don't worry, its washable. However, not all of Katie's tattoo art is washable, she's actually quite skilled with ink.



Every year the kids get these great balloon animals by Monica.  They usually pop them before we get back to the car, and it's always such a surprise to them. Mom! My balloon popped! (insert tears here)  But anyhow, watching Monica do these balloon creations is so cool.



Spencer was in charge of pumpkin bowling. We like Spencer.



Eventually we made our way over to JP.  I wonder how long it takes him to get dressed every morning. Just imagine having to take off all those pins before doing laundry.



For once, the kids weren't too shy to stand for a picture. This was a big moment; a breakthrough.  Maybe we'll get a succesful Santa picture this year too. 



I can always hope.

Pumpkin Patch Party! 10/17 1:00 PM - J.P. Patches!

Saturday, October 17th, 2009. 1PM. 

You are all invited to the Yakima Fruit Market & Nursery's annual...

PUMPKIN PATCH PARTY!!

Featuring...

J.P. Patches!!!

For autographs and pictures.

Also featuring Monica, the amazing and talented balloon artist extraordinaire.

Games and crafts for the kiddos.

Thousands of pumpkins, all shapes and sizes. Your perfect pumpkin is HERE. Come find it.

Here's a couple pics from last year to refresh your memories.  See you there!

Inevitably They Always End Up Asking...

Where do apples come from?

Well OK, they come from trees. From farmers. From right here in Washington this time of year. But then what?

At the Yakima Fruit Market, they do something unique to other area stores.  First, the apples arrive in very large bins, like this one:




Now remember all of those nice stackable boxes you possibly bought some boxed fruit in?  The fruit market saves those up all year long, for apple season.  Look how many they have!



And then, one or two lucky employees goes to work, carefully boxing the apples. The bin starts full,



And sooner or later,



About the time you start coming up with new and corny apple jokes,



The bin is empty and you have a nice stack of boxed apples!



Then in to the cooler they go, (and of course, Karin is always smiling as she does it!)



And from there, out in to the market for us to EAT!



Happy Apple Season!

October One!

Happy First Day of October!

School is in full swing, and I have been thinking mainly about Geography and Shakespeare since my quarter at Shoreline started 2 weeks ago. But I have also been thinking about Fall, and pumpkins, and planning my Halloween costume.

I've also been thinking about the pumpkins Dale and I love to buy for the kids' classes. Kids love little pumpkins, and the fruit market sells cool party packs of them. These are packed by hand, by the way. Not by corporate pumpkin elves.

(You know how we hate corporate elves.)


(Thanks to Bridget for taking all the pics here today!)

Of course, if your a GO BIG kind of person, there are opportunities for that as well. Notice the small pumpkin shown for scale.



Not in to orange? How about a creepy white?



Maybe you're not in to pumpkins at all.  Check out this big ol' carrot.



Whether you like 'em big or small, orange or white, single or in party packs, or not even pumpkins at all, you'll find it here, at the Yakima Fruit Market!


P.S. I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to figure out if that last sentence sounded too much like a dating service ad. Ha!

A Little Bit of Fall

Even though the weather has been warm and sunny, it's hard not to notice the way the colors are changing. A little bit of Fall, everywhere you look.

Longer pants and longer sleeves.



Displays that look like harvesttime



and plants that remind one of the jack-o-lanterns yet to come.